The "Grand National" tour from Kendrick Lamar, his former TDE partner SZA, and star West Coast producer Mustard has brought a lot of opportunities for fan engagement. Whether that's a Not Beauty pop-up or a crowd of over 40,000 fans, this trek kicked off on a great note.
As caught by NFR Podcast and others on Twitter, their concert in Houston on Wednesday (April 23) reportedly became the highest-grossing hip-hop show in history. It reportedly garnered $9.44 million. Their "Grand National" opening in Minneapolis just last week was the previous record holder according to Touring Data, becoming the first rap show to gross over $9 million. Before that, Eminem held the record, which he set at a 2019 concert in Melbourne.
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Kendrick Lamar & SZA "luther"
This is a staggering achievement for a tour with only two shows under its belt at press time. The Minneapolis show opened the "Grand National" trek in... well, grand fashion. New Kendrick Lamar verses and plenty of other surprises emerged, along with consistently impressive showings from SZA and Mustard's crowd control.
Of course, Kendrick Lamar added more shots for good measure. Some fans are already tired of all the Drake discourse, but both artists seem happy to keep things going. One is on the road and one is in court. But we've seen how this fueled standout recent moments like the PARTYNEXTDOOR collab album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U and pretty much everything K.Dot touches these days. Even if they aren't direct in their allusions and jabs, they know fans are smart enough to connect the dots. Or just, you know, ignore them and move on with their lives if they don't care.
Nevertheless, there are many more narrative offshoots from the "Grand National" tour's context that are much more positive. For example, one is Kendrick Lamar and SZA dominating Billboard with "luther." Their Minneapolis show matched with their ninth consecutive and total week at the number one spot on the Hot 100 chart.
What else will the "Grand National" tour offer? We have no idea, but whether there is consistency or surprise on the horizon, we can't wait to find out. We know at least one thing that will definitely come of this trek, and that's a whole lot of cash.
